Temporary Home
:This is my temporary home, :It's not where I belong :Windows and rooms :That I'm passing through! :This is just a stop :On the way to where I'm going :I'm not afraid because I know :This is my temporary home... Chapter 1 - I Hate Kits I don't hate all kits. Just most of them. I play absentmindedly with a small mouse, half-watching the spoiled Clan-brats tumble around, half-wondering what Cobweb is doing. My name is Firefly. And a few days ago I knew who I was. I was the daughter of the leader of the rough side of Twoleg-place. I was Cobweb's best friend. And I had no idea who that low-down rat of a rat Thorn was. But then a few nights ago I ran because I didn't want to marry Cobweb. He got hauled away to Blood Pond to be turned into a monster by his father, Drakon. I got hauled away here. "You're going to have to eat that y'know." I look up to see a ginger tom grinning down at me. "Go away Thorn," I grumble. "Come on Firefly, it's been three sunrises since we got here and all you've done is mope and pretend to eat," "I said go away," "Look," his eyes are serious and I meet them reluctantly. I know his eyes are green, but the only ones I want to see right now are blue. "I know you miss your home. I know you never wanted to come here, but this is a nice place! You've got to get mature and try to make a living here." I make no response and he sighs. This is really annoying. The Clan cats mostly leave me alone because their still convince I'm going to kill them in their sleep. It's funny. I still think the same about them, despite what Thorn says. "I know you miss Cobweb..." Try as I might, my fur refuses to lie flat at this comment. "Thorn," I say through clenched teeth. "If you want to survive and keep both ears, I'd suggest leaving me alone for the next moon," "Look, I know you guys were best friends or lovers or whatever..." Thorn continues, ignoring my threat. That's it. With a yowl, I launch myself at him, claws unsheathed. "Ow! Firefly, gettoff! I didn't mean- OW!" I'm still spitting at him a few moments later when two warriors are hauling me away. Chapter 2 - Explanations Silverstar is a rough, no-nonsense, cunning leader. The fact that I like her for that makes it all the harder to hate her for being Clan. But I will say that whatever my feelings are on the matter, she's terrifying when she's furious. "...attacking ''a fellow Clan member for no apparent reason-" "He brought up my past." I mutter. "Firefly," she rounds on me, blue eyes fiery, "If you're mad at someone you get them back by tackling them on patrol or something. You do not attack them claws unsheathed in the middle of camp in front of the KITS!" "Stupid kits, " I mutter. She sighs, "Firefly, why in StarClan would you come here if you didn't want to?" "You heard the story," I meow, "You know I couldn't do anything else," "I heard that you couldn't stay in Twoleg-place." she says, "That's the extent of my knowledge. Now would you like to talk to me about anything? This Cobweb or even Thorn? Anything I can do?" I look into her eyes. She reminds me of Hawk-eye, my father. Both are born warriors and bred leaders, and even though neither is especially emotional, they both seem to have the knack of making me feel safe and open. "No," I say. Silverstar sighs and dismisses me. When I first arrived, everyone wanted a story. They wanted to set me up in front of the elders and kits and tell them about an adventure in Twoleg-place, about my strange life and the thrilling escape into the wonderful forest where I met them, the fantastrically awesome Clans. I don't do stories. At least not those kind of stories. I leap down from the High-Ledge and onto the ground. Most cats are sharing-tongues in the weak afternoon light. I will never understand Clans. Their traditions are so much stranger then ours. I left my home because I had no choice and because, to be honest, the Clans did seem kind of exciting. I thought that there would be exciting adventures and we mightbe able to help Cobweb in some way. But so far everyone has refused to see me eye to eye, let alone entertain my thoughts about my best friend. Really no one has talked to me except Thorn, which to be fair is probably one of the reasons I hate it here. Thorn tries to keep me happy, I know he does. But he's grieving too, the night we left one of his cats, Boots was hit by a monster. The others, including his bad-tempered luietenant Jynx, all made it safely and are adapting to Clan life better then I am though. Maybe its because the first day they were shown around and were accepted. Maybe it's because they want to be here. I stare off towards Twoleg-place. Somewhere, Cobweb is out there being turned into a monster. I head towards the den to sleep. Chapter 3 - Excitement? "It's the Gathering, the Gathering, the Gathering, the Gathering!" Brownpaw, one of the younger apprentices is squealing, bouncing around. Larkpaw, one of the older apprentices rolls her pale blue eyes, "Just cuz it's your first time doesn't mean we want to hear about it the whole night Brownpaw." she hisses. I watch them from a distance. Silverstar invited me to come tonight. I declined. Then she told me I had to. I don't get it. This isn't just me being biased towards the dumb Clans because I'm here against my will. What's so exciting about sitting around and listening to leaders drone on about kits and elders dying all night? Sounds boring. Silverstar leads the Clan out of the camp and I follow, on the edge of the pack, but close enough I still feel apart. That's the one thing I love about the Clans. Night after night I wake up from dreams of racing in a meadow, skimming along the wildflowers, running as fast as I want. Something I could never do in the confining twists and turns of Twoleg-place. We race through the territory and I marvel once again at the wonders of RiverClan territory. Thorn wasn't sure which Clan would want us, but the cats who fished the river were quick to whisk us into their territory of rushing streams, lush meadows, and plentiful food. The others think it's a dream. I hope it is. We finally reach the four tall oaks that surround the clearing where the Gathering will take place, and I can't help but be impressed. The others merely pause for a moment and then continue. I notice Thorn is the only other one who takes time to notice the wonder. He smiles at me and I roll my eyes, noting in satisfaction that several of the scratches I gave him require cobwebs. We follow the rest of the Clan and I gasp in terror as I find myself in a writhing mass of cats. The scents...the sounds...I feel light-headed and I sway on my paws. Then I feel myself being herded off to a quieter corner where some of the other newcomers are sitting. "Bet you've never been to anything this big in Twoleg-place," Thorn says as he settles down next to me. Speechlessly, I gaze about. The Clans mingle and laugh together and I wonder how they can stand to attack each other after this joy. The four leaders have taken their place on the Great Rock, I think it's called, and before I know it the cats are falling silent, listening to the leaders. The ThunderClan leader starts off, talking about a battle with a pair of foxes. I listen, breathlessly, then even more avidly as the WindClan leader, a lean brown tom talks about his Clans happening. They share so much! In Twoleg-place, if we knew this much about out enemies we could wipe them out in one raid! Silverstar takes her turn and she mentions the new arrivals which brings muttering and some stares. I shrink behind Thorn a bit, then stand tall, happy with the knowledge I could probably hold my own against most of these cats in a fight. Silverstar talks about RiverClan things that happened before we arrived and I find myself getting to know my Clanmates a little better. Finally, the smallest cat- ShadowClan's leader- steps out of the shadows. She's tiny, but that's not why I'm so confused. She reminds me of something...her cold stance, her orange eyes...then I freeze as I realize it. "Drakon," I whisper. Chapter 4 - Falling "Who is that?" I ask Thorn quietly, my voice trembling slightly. "Her name is Emberstar." Thorn murmurs back, "And you've got to be quiet." I sit back, my heart falling. The one thing, the ''one thing, I was happy about when I came here was that I could leave behind Drakon. Those piercing orange eyes would never terrify me again and his icy tone would never make me cringe. But looking at this Emberstar I know I can't be free of Drakon, not with this she-cat, who looks like his twin, stalking the forests. She speaks in a clear, cutting voice about the successes of ShadowClan- new kits, new warriors, new apprentices. Not one death, not one loss. Finally, the gathering is over and I start to bombard Thorn with questions. "Where did she come from? And how'd she get to be leader? Is she-" "Emberstar?" he looks at me, confused, "She's always been here...and she became a leader like any other cat. Although, she's been much more...driven then the other leader's I guess you could say. Silverstar doesn't trust her at all", he gives me a curious look, "Why?" "No reason," I meow quickly, "Now, when the ThunderClan leader said that thing about the kits, what did..." I step lightly across the crackled cobblestones. I am walking down a mist shrouded alley and at the end I see a shape, a shape that blends in so perfectly to the mist I almost miss him. But I have been picking him out of the mist for years. "Cobweb!" I shriek, running towards him, "Cobweb!" I run to him and he turns to meet me, and I look up, overjoyed. I catch his eyes, then gasp. Instead of the familiar blue, I see orange. Orange like Drakon. Cobweb smiles perfectly at me, "I'm back from Blood Pond," Then he lunges. "Firefly! Firefly!" I wake up, the shriek still building in my throat, tears still streaming down my face. Several faces peer down at me. "I brought Silverstar," one of the warriors says, entering with the leader. She rushes to me and curls her tail around me like I'm a kit. "It's okay Firefly, it was just a dream..." she soothes. I bury my nose in her fur and sob. Chapter 5 - Nightmare It takes a long time to calm me down. And when I do finally stop screeching, my fur is still wet with tears and my eyes are tired from my sobs. Cobweb dead. Cobweb from Blood Pond. Cobweb attacking me. Drakon. Nightmare after nightmare flashes past me and I slip in and out of sleep. Silverstar drags me to the medicine cat's den. Juniperbranch gives me a thorough look over. "It's nothing I've ever seen before," she meows slowly, "But it's possible that she's been blocking off memories of her old home and something set her off again. Those memories all came rushing back and it was too much for her. It's not a physical thing- it's a mental state." "Well will she shut up now so my Clan can get some rest?" Silverstar asks unsympathetically. "I'll give her some poppy seeds," the medicine cat says gently, "But Silverstar, Firefly's been through some horrible things...be a little more sympathetic." "I'll try to think of that the next time she wakes up everyone with her tantrums," Silverstar says tightly, sweeping out of the den. Juniperbranch crouches in front of me, her green eyes full of yellow specks that make me think of sunlight shimmering on the leaves in summer. "Firefly, I know it's scary. I don't know why you're so afraid, but whatever is making you have these nightmares is far away now, okay?" The fear that's been blanketing me since the gathering when I saw Emberstar lifts a little. Juniperbranch continues, "As a medicine cat, I might have a little more insight then the others about what this is about." I look at her with wide eyes. "Let me guess," she meows evenly, "Someone at home...someone you love a lot is in trouble." Cobweb, Hawk-eye, Lela, Cobweb, Cobweb. "And you're upset because you ran away." I nod. "And you hate us...you hate us because you don't want to be here?" Again, I nod silently. "Well," Juniperbranch says more briskly, "I don't know what set you off, but I doubt it's in the camp, so try to sleep here and I'll give you some poppy seeds. And anytime you need to talk or anything you can come to me." she smiles, "Everyone's been creeping around you because their intimidated, but really the Clan is a great place to be." I nod, trusting her more then I trust anyone else here. She paws over a leaf with a few black seeds on it and I lick them up. As sleep starts to creep up into my vision, I promise myself one thing. ''When I wake up I'll try harder, I will. '' ''Even to those dumb kits. '' Category:Artimas Hunter's Fanfics